Sydney, June 20 (IANS) A health alert for measles has been issued in the Australian city after a confirmed case traveled through the city’s international airport while infectious. The health department in the state of New South Wales (NSW) said on Friday that the confirmed case arrived in Sydney from Southeast Asia, where there are ongoing outbreaks of measles in several countries, on Monday. Anyone who was on board Vietnam Airlines flight VN773 that arrived at the Sydney International Airport on Monday or who was in the airport’s arrivals and baggage collection areas between 8:00-9:30 a.m. on the same day has been advised to monitor for symptoms of measles. Mitchell Smith, the acting director of Public Health for the South Western Sydney Local Health District, said that initial symptoms include fever, sore eyes, runny nose and a cough followed days later by a rash that spreads from the face to the rest of the body. He said that it is important for anyone who was on the flight or in those areas of the airport to monitor for symptoms for 18 days, Xinhua news agency reported. According to data from the federal government’s National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System, there have been 80 confirmed cases of measles in Australia so far in 2025 compared to 57 cases for the entirety of 2024 and 26 in 2023. According to the World Health Organization, measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus. It spreads easily when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. It can cause severe disease, complications, and even death. Measles can affect anyone but is most common in children. Measles infects the respiratory tract and then spreads throughout the body. Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose and a rash all over the body. Being vaccinated is the best way to prevent getting sick with measles or spreading it to other people. The vaccine is safe and helps your body fight off the virus. Before the introduction of measles vaccine in 1963 and widespread vaccination, major epidemics occurred approximately every two to three years and caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year. An estimated 107 500 people died from measles in 2023 – mostly children under the age of five years, despite the availability of a safe and cost-effective vaccine.